Chapter 4: The Bradley that came to dinner

After the holidays and Jenny's return to Tremerton High, life seemingly returned to normal. Most students fell back into their usual friend groups and the same old school schedule and teachers like it's always been. That's the case for the majority of the students of Tremerton High. Except for Jenny Wakeman.

Due to her missing two semesters, she was held back a year, according to Vice Principal Razinski, much to her dismay. Insults and jokes were thrown at her, yet she didn't bother to respond. Instead, she would collect her textbooks from her locker and trudge from one class to the next with her head lowered toward the ground.

In class, she would sit in the back of the room, her chin rested on her arms as she leaned forward on her desk. Her optics focused on the teacher, but not a single word went in. Some students would tease her during class with occasional pencils or crumpled-up paper tossed at her head, but again no reaction.

She never smiled or bothered to talk except if it was with Sheldon. Yet, even then, she wasn't her usual self. But, that didn't deter Brad from trying to interact with Jenny. Whenever he saw Jenny at her locker or Sheldon and Jenny talking in the hall or at lunch, he would immediately try and strike a conversation with her. But instead, he was only met with a cold, deadpanned, and unreadable facial expression, or she would simply walk past him, ignoring him, not making eye contact.

The entire week, he tried to engage with her. During lunch hours, he would jump on the tables and be as loud as possible just to get her attention and maybe get her to smile. However, the attempts would fail as she became irritated, and he got detention. Finally, he strolled down the hallway on Friday as the final bell rang. Many students trampled down the hall and out the door for the long-awaited weekend. Right by the exit stood Jenny and Sheldon, probably talking about weekend plans.

Brad waved and called out, "Hey guys! Do you want to walk home with me?" He secretly hoped Jenny would respond as he held onto the strap of his backpack tightly and jogged closer to them. Without missing a second, Jenny activated her wings and pigtail jets and flew out the doors as she left behind a trail of smoke. Sheldon meekly smiled and waved in return, "Hey Brad! Sure, I can walk with you."

Brad's hopeful smile faltered, and he grumbled, "Oh…thanks, Sheldon." He pushed onto the glass doors and walked out the building with Sheldon trailing behind him. He observed his friend who clearly had a love-struck goofy grin glued onto his face. He slightly chuckled at his friend's demeanor, "You seem happy."

Sheldon sighed dreamily, hands clasped together, "Oh am I ever! Jenny and I became so close, and we're going out tonight to a fancy Italian restaurant called Rezentti's! This is a huge step for us!" He squealed like a little girl on Christmas morning-ecstatic that he is now with the girl of his dreams. His reactions made Brad snicker a bit and helped him feel slightly better.

Brad patted his back and nodded, "Well, I'm proud of you, buddy!" Both of them were silent for a moment. Brad gazed down at the sidewalk as his feet kicked the snowy blanket in front of them. He was grateful to have Sheldon's presence, especially since they became closer in the past year. However, Jenny's absence weighed on him more-he wished she could have joined them and been with them. "So…I saw Jenny take off pretty quick today, did she have an emergency call or…?"

Sheldon's grin vanished as he glanced over to his friend, "Well…no, one of her sisters is still handling her missions…she just rushed home." He felt guilty as he saw the disappointment on Brad's face. "Have you had any luck with her this week?"

Brad shook his head and shrugged, "No…I tried everything. I would try to talk to her in the hall or at her locker. During lunch I tried to get her attention, and-well you know how that went." He grunted as he rolled his eyes, thinking back to the long hours of after-school detention.

Sheldon giggled as he remembered what happened and the terror on Jenny's face, "Yea, maybe don't take your clothes off next time, genius." Brad slapped the back of his head and shot him a glare, "Ow! Ok, sorry!" Sheldon winced as he rubbed the back of his head. "Man…that hurt."

Brad sighed, exhausted. "Don't talk about it please! Sorry, I shouldn't have struck you."

Sheldon shrugged and forced a smile, he waved dismissively as he slightly chuckled, "It's fine, Jenny's done worse."

Brad watched as he rubbed his head in pain. Then, finally, he shrugged in defeat, "I just…I don't know what to do, Shel. I feel like I really did try everything."

Sheldon nodded as he finally managed to get the pain to calm down, "Well, I wouldn't give up yet. I mean, it took me a while to get Jenny to go on a date with me, and I'm sure with time she'll want to be your friend again…" He smiled in thought. "Heh, I remember trying everything, including sneaking in on her date nights to win her over. But I did it!" He beamed with pride in his voice and held his fist in excitement.

Brad blinked and an idea formed into his mind. He smirked, "Sneaking in on her dates, huh?" He rubbed his chin in thought.

Sheldon nodded joyfully, unaware of Brad's expression, "Oh yea! It probably wasn't a great idea, but it worked! Anyways, this is my place, so I'll see you later!" He turned to walk into his house, and skipped away with joy.

Brad called out to get his attention, "Wait, Sheldon! What time are you guys going to Rezentti's tonight?"

Sheldon raised an eyebrow as he looked back at him, "Uh, probably about 6:30 or 7:00. Why?"

Brad shrugged nonchalantly, "Oh, no reason, just wondering. See ya later!"

Sheldon smiled and waved before he turned back to enter his house.

Brad grinned to himself as he began his walk back home. There's no way Jenny will be able to ignore me…now I'll need a disguise and something to help convince Sheldon…Heh, maybe I have a chance to save our friendship after all!

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Rezentti's 6:45 PM

The waiter led Sheldon and Jenny to a table dressed with a candlelight and a vase filled with roses. Jenny smiled as Sheldon pulled out her chair for her to sit in. "Wow, this is beautiful Sheldon."

Sheldon giggled, And expensive. Geeze. He thought to himself painfully as he remembered seeing the prices. He sat down across from Jenny, "I'm glad you like it! They actually serve oil here."

Jenny was impressed, she raised an optic, "Really?"

Sheldon nodded excitedly, "Oh yes! All the oil you can drink!" He smiled widely as he rested his chin into his palms, blushing furiously, "I'm thrilled you're here Jenny…this is like a dream come true, I always imagined something like this. And to have it be real, it's amazing!" He gushed as he leaned toward her.

Jenny nodded with a forced smile. "Thanks Sheldon…Uhm, is it ok if I use the bathroom- I need to powder my rivets."

Sheldon nodded as Jenny sat up to head to the women's room. He watched as she left, his heart skipped a beat as he rubbed his hands excitedly. This is happening, this is really happening! He leaned back in his seat, folded his arms and dreamed about the possible future. I can already hear the wedding bells. He giggled, imagining Jenny in a wedding dress and him in a suit. I wonder what our wedding colors will be…probably blue…

"PSST! Sheldon!" Whispered a voice interrupting his daydream and tapping his shoulder. "Turn around!"

Sheldon jumped and peered over his shoulder. Talking to him, was a strange-looking man. His hair was lopsided-looked like a wig, an apparent fake mustache, he wore a cheap suit with a cloak hanging around his neck, a brown fedora and sunglasses. Sheldon narrowed his eyes in confusion, "Can I help you?"

The man lowered his sunglasses to reveal his eyes, "It's me, Brad!"

Sheldon stared at him, shocked and confused, "Brad?! What…what are you…why are you?"

Brad shrugged sheepishly with a small smile, "I'm…well…doing what you did, sneaking in on your date."

Sheldon blinked and turned in his chair to face him, now frustrated, "What?! Just because I did it, doesn't mean you can! You need to leave!"

Brad shook his head, "I actually got a reservation like you two…also, I think I found a way to fix our friendship!"

Sheldon raised an eyebrow in irritation, "By interfering with our date as some random old dude?"

Brad grabbed his shoulder and shook his head, "Not a random old dude… I'm your grandfather, Sheldon." He shared a sympathetic smile.

Sheldon scoffed and rolled his eyes, he pushed Brad's hand off, "Seriously? Okay, first of all, I actually wasn't planning to introduce my family to her until a few more months and how is this going to help with Jenny?"

Brad winked, "Alright, so you'd introduce me to Jenny as your grandpa and then I'd talk to her about you and then I'll casually bring myself up since we're friends and see if I can convince her to forgive me."

Sheldon sat in bewilderment, he rubbed his face giving an exasperated sigh. "You gotta be kidding me." He moaned.

"Listen… it'll work out, I promise and I'll leave quickly. Okay? Just help me out, please?" Brad pleaded desperately.

Sheldon hesitated, "Brad…I understand and I'd love to help…but I don't know."

Brad quickly reached into his cloak and rummaged through his pockets, "It's in here somewhere-Ah ha!" He pulled out a blue key, its head shaped similar to the outline of Jenny's head. "What if I gave you the key to Jenny's room?"

Sheldon gasped and quickly covered his mouth to not attract attention. He whispered, stunned. "How did you get that?" His eyes gazed at the key in amazement.

Brad gave a sly smile as he placed it in Sheldon's hand, "I may have pickpocketed one of her sisters on the way home."

Sheldon screeched in horror as he grasped the key, "You what?! Oh, Brad! No!" He slapped his hand over his face and shook his head embarrassed.

Brad shushed and clamped his hand over Sheldon's mouth in an attempt to calm him down, "Hey, it's ok they actually don't know it's missing. It's fine! When I did it, she was doing a quick reboot, so she didn't see me."

Sheldon gulped and stammered, "Okay….but which…which sister?" Please be one of the earlier prototypes that can't do anything! Sheldon pleaded in his mind.

"It was XJ8." Brad stated as he straightened his wig and mustache.

Sheldon's skin turned pale as he gawked in terror. He felt like he was going to be sick, like his stomach turned upside down. "XJ8?!" He gulped, his eyes widened in sheer horror. A shudder ran down his spine, having Jenny be mad at you is terrifying, but XJ8? Sheldon winced at the thought of XJ8 being angry and coming after them. "Brad, if Jenny doesn't kill us, I'm sure XJ8 will."

Brad chuckled as he picked up the menu and looked through the options, "She won't find out, I promise. She probably won't even know it's missing; besides, if she wants to go in the room, she could just kick the door down-woah; fifty dollars for a steak dinner? Holy schnikey!" He stared at the food prices in amazement, "Even water costs at least a buck!"

Sheldon gazed at the key in his hand, playing with it. He felt a little guilty, but having all access to Jenny does sound pretty nice. Sheldon bit his lip and finally gave into the temptation. He puts it in his coat pocket, "Fine, I'll do it. I'll introduce you to her as my grandpa."

Brad grinned widely, "Yes! I knew I could count on you!"

Sheldon nodded, glanced back towards the women's room, and saw Jenny walking towards them, "Okay, here she comes! Follow my lead." He faces Jenny and smiles. "Hey Jen, you look wonderful! Ready to eat?"

She silently nods and sits back down. Sheldon observed her for a second, he noticed she looked a little solemn. "You alright?"

"Hmm? Oh yea, I'm fine. Just looking at the oil section here." She lightly chuckled and pointed at the menu. Her optics focused on the options that laid in front of her.

Sheldon sympathetically nodded and mouthed, 'ok.' Not wanting to push it any further, he rested his arms on the table and twiddled his thumbs for a moment. I can't believe I'm going to do this. Sheldon rolled his eyes before turning. Sheldon glanced behind him at Brad and feigned shock, "Oh my goodness, Jenny! My grandpa is here! What a coincidence!" Sheldon pointed at Brad, forcing a smile. Jenny looked at the supposed old man in confusion.

Brad gleamed and reached out his hand towards her and spoke in a raspy faded tone, "Oh, hello my wonderful grandson! Is this your date here, what's your name, pretty lady?"

Jenny raised an optic, he looks pretty young for a grandpa. She faked a soft smile and shook his hand, "I'm Jenny."

Brad nodded, happy that Jenny fell for the disguise. He chucked hoarsely, "Oh my. You got quite a grip there, ho! Jenny, you say? Sheldon talked so much about you, so it's nice to finally meet you, my dear!"

"Oh did he, now?" Enquired Jenny in a flat tone, she found the guy suspiciously familiar.

Brad chuckled and patted Sheldon's shoulder, "Oh yes all the time! He told me about all of his friends, including that handsome and suave Bradley, fella!" He gave a weak grin, his fake mustache started to fall off his face. "I heard he is such a kind and caring best friend. The bestest pal anyone could ever have! Ain't that right Shel?"

Sheldon showed a look of discomfort, he just wanted this to be over already, but he kept the act for Brad's sake. "Oh…uhm, yea totally."

Jenny scoffed and leaned back in her seat, arms folded, "A good best friend? Ha! Yeah right, unless you count betraying the people you loved a good friend. Then yea he's the freaking greatest!" She emphasized with sarcasm in her voice.

Brad and Sheldon both cringed at her words. This was not going well. Brad stammered and shrugged, as tried to keep up the facade, "Well… I'm sure he feels ashamed for what he did, I'm positive! Knowing my grandson…"

Jenny stopped him as she raised her hand, "Wait, your grandson? I thought Sheldon was your grandson?"

Brad gulped as he realized his mistake. He nervously smiled, "Uhm…right, that's correct…but uhm… they're actually both my grandsons, yeh! That's right!" He nervously grinned widely as he held his hands behind his back and shifted his feet nervously. Sheldon buried his face in his palms, his cheeks red from embarrassment.

Jenny nodded slowly, "Ah…I see. So Brad and Sheldon are related?" She tilted her head, narrowed her optics curiously.

Brad scratched the back of his neck, his mind scrambled, "Well, not exactly, no…I just-uhm-I just view them both as my grandsons! In fact, I view a lot of people as my grandchildren…because-well… I'm the oldest man in Tremerton!" He could feel himself getting hot and sweaty. In the corner of his eye, he could see Sheldon staring at him as if he lost it and kicking him in the leg. Why did I say that-get a hold of yourself man!! He mentally slapped himself.

Jenny covered her mouth as if to stifle a laugh, "Really? The oldest man, whose everybody's grandpa huh… who's that kid over there in the blue shirt then?" She pointed to a boy a few booths away from them.

Brad glanced over at the boy, straining his brain to see if he could recognize him from somewhere. When nothing came he stared at Sheldon and mouthed, 'Help me.'

Sheldon shrugged, "Uh…oh grandpa, you know him that's…"

Jenny placed her hand over his mouth and another hand raised a finger against her mouth, "Shh, don't, I'm sure he can figure it out." She sat back down and gazed at the 'old man' in curiosity.

Brad blinked, now terrified. What should I do? Eventually, without thinking, he plainly replied, "I…have… Alzheimer's." He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded with pained confidence. "Yup."

Sheldon gazed in disbelief as he shook his head and then collapsed on the table. He could not believe what he had witnessed.

Jenny squinted her optics and replied softly, "Oh you poor thing…" she tapped her chin in false wonder, "And so young too."

Brad nervously giggled, "Well… I'm not that young Jennifer…I was born in uhm…1994?"

Jenny nodded firmly, "Oh that long ago? So, that makes you…?"

Brad paused, his eyes widened. He glanced at Sheldon again who banged his head against the table in agony. Shoot…ok, the year is 2075-No, 2076- we just had New Years…uhh…and I said 1994…shoot, how old am I?! He gulped, his mouth felt dry. He smacked his lips, the awkward silence filled the space amidst the trio.

Jenny continued, with a supposed smirk, "And, you really do look so young…how do you do it?"

Brad shyly smiled as he squeaked, "M-Moisture cream…" His eyes now avoided Jenny's optics, he glared at the floor and around the room. He needed to escape-Fast! He's not able to take it anymore. He cleared his throat and kept his false composure, "You kids wanna see a magic trick?"

Before Sheldon or Jenny could respond, Brad picked up the vase and smiled as he held it up high, "Adabracadabra!" He tosses the vase forward, which results in the roses and water pouring all over the table and leaking onto the floor and into Sheldon and Jenny's laps as well as putting out the candle's flame.

The glass shattered all around them, Jenny stood up in shock, "Oh my jobs, no!!!" She quickly picked up the folded napkin and dropped out the silverware onto the table and started to wipe herself down, "Ugh dang it! No! This was a new paint job!" She groaned at the rust forming onto her legs and up her torso.

Sheldon glanced over and noticed Brad sprinted for the exit. He rushed to Jenny's side, "I am so sorry, are you okay?"

Jenny growled as she shot him a nasty glare. "What do you think, idiot?! I'm rusting!" She groaned as she kept wiping the water off her body.

Sheldon sighed guiltily, he just ruined her night-well Brad mainly did. He felt enraged. He shook his head, "Jenny…I need to tell you something, that guy wasn't my grandfather!" He gulped, he wanted to tell the whole truth but…just couldn't betray Brad, "That was Brad's grandfather…he has some mental health issues and somehow he must have escaped the facility. I was just being nice to him, honestly I do see him as a grandfather and wha-what are you doing?"

Jenny pulled down her pigtail that turned into a phone.

"Well I better let him know his grandpas here, huh? Call Bradley."

Sheldon's eyes widened in terror, "Wait, Jenny-"

It was too late. The sound of Brad's phone rang throughout the restaurant. Jenny turned and saw the 'old man' screech and start scrambling through his cloak and pant pockets. "Turn off! Turn off! AGH!"

He froze when he felt a cold metal hand on his shoulder. He could see Jenny coming in front of him with a raised optic and a smirk, "You gonna get that?"

Brad trembled, not knowing how to respond. He fumbled for his phone until he eventually grabbed it to pull it out, but unfortunately it dropped from his hands, face up on the floor for Jenny to see her contact information. "EEK!" He cried and stomped on his phone till the screen cracked and the ringing stopped. "Uhm… haha-I didn't need that anyways."

Jenny reached down and picked it up. "Now, this looks familiar-what do you…" Brad already bolted out the door before she could finish her sentence. She narrowed her optics and scoffed, "Unbelievable!" She held the phone and gazed down her rusted body in disgust. "That little jerk! Can't you believe this Sheldon? My wax is ruined and so is the dinner!"

Sheldon winced and softly replied sympathetically, "Well, Jenny, he's a confused old guy I'm sure he meant no harm."

Jenny rolled her optics, "Oh please, I'm not dumb. I don't know if you could tell, but that was Brad! Ugh, he's such a…UGH!" She steamed as she stormed back to her seat and slammed the napkin on the table. She glared at Sheldon who sat unusually quiet in his wet suit, "How are you so calm about this?!"

Sheldon gulped, as he began to wipe himself off. He knew Brad had good intentions. But Jenny was not going to listen. "Uhm… I'm sure he has his reason…but how about we just forget about it and enjoy the rest of our evening?"

Jenny shook her head. She felt exhausted and angry both at Brad and Sheldon-and confused why Sheldon isn't freaking out. Her body became more stiff by the minute as the rust corroded on her metal skin. She groaned, and felt like tears were going to emerge again, "No, I-I-I can't do this… I'm sorry. I'm gonna go home." She pushed her seat in and trudged through the door, her legs moaned as she walked due to the rust.

"Jenny…" Sheldon called out for her in desperation.

Jenny waved her hand at him as she walked out the door, "Leave me alone… and please don't follow me."

Sheldon felt a pang of guilt in his stomach as she watched her leave the building with her arms folded and head lowered as she walked away. He lightly kicked the table leg in frustration. Why did I agree to that?! Now we just made things worse!

Sheldon lowered his head and glared at the damaged table setting. How could this get any worse?

"Excuse me…" Sheldon looked up and saw one of the waiters frowning at him and his hands on his hips. "You're going to have to pay for the damages you caused sir."

Sheldon protested, "But, that wasn't…but…Ohh!!!" He facepalmed in frustration. "How much?" He pulled out his wallet

"A couple hundred dollars."

Sheldon stared at him in shock as he held out his wallet. You gotta be kidding me…

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Authors Note: Fourth chapter is out! I honestly had fun writing this one lol. Also, fun fact-When Brad says Abracadabra, it originally was just a typing error on my part. Then I thought it would be funnier to keep it spelled wrong, so Brad just says it wrong in a state of panic lol. Anyways, thanks for reading, please let me know what you think! I love to hear your thoughts:) Also in case you didn't catch it I referenced two people, one is a creator of the show and the other was a famous author on here who had that popular catchphrase. Also I will re edit ch 3 eventually, thanks for letting me know of the errors :)